The rain has descended on us here in Northern Ireland with plenty of wet days to keep us at home. We have been keeping an eye out for new activities to try. When we got contacted by BIC KIDS about the BIC KIDS Young Artist Award for 5-11 year old's was back for it's second year I knew this was something Dylan would love. He's really taken to drawing lately and although he's no Picasso he does take great pride and really enjoys sitting down and drawing a picture that tells a story. Well he usually tells the story too.

If you have never heard about theBIC KIDS Young Artist Award, it all started last year when BIC started the award to celebrate children creativity here in the UK and Ireland in partnership with Mumsnet. The competition is open to children aged 5 - 11 years old. To enter your child just needs to draw a picture on an A4 page in crayon, pencil or felt tip pen. BIC KIDS are encouraging children to have complete creative freedom when it comes to the art work. If your child wants to draw a rainbow sky above a bright purple sea then they can. The overall winner will win their picture shared in a massive scale on billboards across the UK and Ireland.

There are some guidelines to follow to be eligible to enter. The picture needs to be in landscape since the winners picture will be blown up to go on billboards. It must not feature any well known TV characters or cartoons. The entries need to be submitted to the BIC KIDS website (the link is above) before 11.59pm on Sunday 5th August 2018 by the child's parent or guardian. The child's hometown and age need to be included when you fill in the entry form and your child needs to sign the back of their work to show that they have created the drawing themselves.

There will be one winner chosen from each of the 13 regions in the UK. These thirteen winners will be chosen by an expert judging panel on Monday 6th August and will be contacted on the same day. They will be looking at the creativity and the use of colour in the child's picture as well as their artistic ability and composition to see how well the space has been used and which creative skills are shown. They will also look at if the picture is telling a story, uses patterns or shows emotion and more. All thirteen regional winners will need to send their artworks by recorded delivery in a hard backed envelope. It needs to arrive before Wednesday 8th August. The finalists will have their work displayed across the UK and Ireland. After which there will be a vote open to the public where the nation can pick their favourite picture which will then be shared across billboards nationwide from the 24th September to 7th October.

To help Dylan create his entry for the BIC KIDS Young Artist Award, they sent us a selection of products to use. We received some of the products which will also be part of the prize all the thirteen regional winners will receive. In the bundle above you can see BIC KIDS Ecolutions Evolution colouring pencils, KID Couleur felt tip pens, Plastidecor crayons, Learner Graphite Pencil and Learner Ball Pen Twist System.

It's rare that Dylan and I get time to sit and do things that are not suitable for both him and Scarlet. I decided that although the BIC KIDS Young Artist Award is only open to children aged 5- 11 years old that I too would draw and colour my own picture with him. We started out by talking about what we wanted to draw and how he wanted to do it. He had some striking inspiration from the little fish on the BIC KIDS Couleur felt tip pens and decided we would draw a fish under the sea with a shark, some sand and some seaweed.

The first stage of drawing the picture had to be the outline. We got started using the BIC KIDS Learner Graphite Pencil, made by experts with children in mind. They are made using ultra resistant HB grade lead and each pencil contains a long yellow stripe down the front. This is to help guide children to hold the pencil in the right position. The correct way to hold the pencil is with each finger on either side of the yellow guiding line. The triangular shape of the Learner Graphite Pencil from BIC KIDS helps with the positioning and grip of the pencil as children learn to write.

One of the best perks of the Learner Graphite Pencil from BIC KIDS is that it can be used by both left and right handed children. This is a big plus for us as so far Dylan seems to be ambidextrous. He writes with both hands and can draw with both too. He does seem to have better control with his left but will still insist on using his right as well. I did find that when Dylan was drawing his fish he wouldn't turn the pencil when he switched hands so the yellow line wasn't to the front anymore.

Once Dylan had an outline we moved on to the colouring. He drew an underwater scene with a fish and a shark. The picture evolved as he started adding in his colour and there was a whole under water volcano erupting in magnificent orange and red splendour thanks to the vivid colours of Plastidecor crayons from BIC KIDS. These little crayons are perfect for little hands since they do not leave their hands or clothes dirty. Each of the Plastidecor crayons can be sharpened with ease when they wear down with use to give your little Picasso better control. They are also more resistant than similar crayon which is perfect in our house. Just us who seems to break a crayon every time we colour?

I opted to use the Ecolutions Evolution colouring pencils from BIC KIDS while we coloured. Made using 50% of their whole weight with recycled material these pencils are helping our environment. Being made without using wood it means that these pencils also don't splinter and they are easy to sharpen as well as safe to use. The Ecolutions Evolution colouring pencils from BIC KIDS have an ultra resistant lead. I liked how bright and vivid the colours came out on the page without much force. These pencils can enable children to build on their layering and shading with colours without having to apply too much pressure. They can give children the ability to advance their art work and their skills too.

With our underwater pictures finished Dylan wanted to create a new one. This time he wanted to make a rainbow using the KID Couleur felt tip pens from BIC KIDS. These vibrant pens are built to withstand use from children with a medium blocked tip nib that provides a good resistance when in use. Made with a water based ink the KID Couleur felt tip pens from BIC KIDS are easily washed away from hands as well as most clothes. Great news for all us parents who've spent time trying to remove pen from that favourite top with no luck!

Dylan really loved the freedom the KID Couleur felt tip pens from BIC KIDS gave him. He was able to easily remove and replace the lid without any help. Usually it can take him a good few tries to get the pen into the lids if he's trying to hurry. Dylan used the pens to create his rainbow picture. He finished off the rainbow picture by creating a new texture using the side of the Plastidecor crayons from BIC KIDS. He choose to make part of the sky green with this technique.

Dylan's finished rainbow entry. He has since asked if we can do another picture today before he can choose one he'd like to send off for his entry to the BIC KIDS Young Artist Award.

The final thing for Dylan to do was to sign the back of his picture with the Learner Ball Point Pen System from BIC KIDS. These little pens are designed to be used by children who are left or right handed too. Just like the Graphite Pencil the Learner Ball Point Pen system guides children to hold the pen in the correct position with a yellow line that expends through the grip on the pen. The Learner Ball Point Pen System from BIC KIDS opens easily using a very smooth twist system for ease of use. They are recommended to by used from age 4 so they are just perfect for Dylan. We usually use pencils at home for writing so he was really excited to try using a pen instead. We will be working more on Dylan's handwriting as the summer continues and the pens will be great for helping him with his control, pressure and working on his hand position when he gets bored for using his pencil.

There are still three days left (including today) to get your entries in for the BIC KIDS Younger Artist Award before the closing date this Sunday. Why not get out your colours and get creative. Let your children create while you get five minutes with a hot cup of coffee or why not join in and do your own with them too.